2tn Heb “If to you [it is] good and from the Lord our God.”

3tn Heb “let us spread and let us send.” The words “the word” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

4tn Heb “in the cities of their pasturelands.”

5tn Heb “to us.”

6tn Heb “him.” In this case, seeking God’s will is what is implied.

7tn Heb “in the days of Saul.”

8tn Heb “all the assembly said to do so.”

9tn Heb “for right was the word in the eyes of all the people.”

10tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.

sn The Shihor River was a river on the border of Egypt, probably the eastern branch of the Nile.

11tn Or “the entrance to Hamath.”

12tn Heb “the ark of God the Lord who sits [between] the cherubim which is called [by his] name.”

13tn Heb “with all strength.”

14tn Heb “with songs and with zithers [meaning uncertain] and with harps.” Due to the collocation with “harps,” some type of stringed instrument is probably in view.

15tn Or “to steady.”

16tn Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah.”

17tn Heb “because he stretched out his hand over the ark.”

18sn The modern reader might think God seemed to overreact here, but Israel needed a vivid object lesson of God’s holiness. By loading the ark on a cart, David had violated the instructions in God’s law (Exod 25:12-14; Num 4:5-6, 15). Uzzah’s action, however innocent it may seem, betrayed a certain lack of reverence for God’s presence. God had to remind his people that his holiness could not under any circumstances be violated.

19tn Heb “because the Lord broke out [with] breaking out [i.e., an outburst] against Uzzah.”

20sn The name Perez Uzzah means in Hebrew “the outburst [against] Uzzah.”

21sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.